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Leeds firm's staff at work - in nude
For James Russell and his colleagues at Definitive Creative in Leeds, March 12 was just a normal day at the office.
Except for one X-rated difference – the nine employees at the design agency in Kirkstall were all completely NAKED.
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And not only did they go through the daily grind wearing their birthday suits, they were being filmed for a new TV show.
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The seven men and two women will star in the second episode of The Naked Office, to be screened on Virgin1 on Tuesday.
"Naked Friday" marked the end of a week-long social experiment to explore whether flashing the flesh could boost business.
James, 32, was filmed at home with his wife Amanda and 18-month-old daughter Izabella before going to work – and even drove into the office completely nude.
The managing director, who co-founded the company in 2004, said: "It's very tastefully done, a bit like Calendar Girls really.
"If you can overcome being naked in front of your colleagues, you can overcome anything, and that's the message we took away."
The workshop was led by behaviour change specialist Seven Suphi, who also visited an organic fruit and vegetable delivery company, a fledgling online beauty booking business and a construction recruitment agency as part of the series.
The Naked Office aims to investigate whether working naked will help employees to break down relationship boundaries, as well as increasing positivity and productivity during the difficult economic climate.
The staff at Definitive Creative, including James, co-founder Gareth McDonnell, creative designer Emily Sheppard and accounts manager Lisa Lloyd, were struggling to work as a team, with problems including personality clashes, stress and boredom.
The workshops, which culminated in Naked Friday, also included tasks like synchronised swimming, hypnosis, building flat-pack furniture with no instructions and presenting a briefing with artwork with just one hour's preparation.
And according to James, life in the office has become much easier since they saw each other naked.
He said: "When I first suggested it to Gareth, he said there was no chance, which is what most people would say.
"But when you think about what it's done for the business and what it's done for the team, it's been an amazing opportunity.
"We were out of our comfort zone but going through the whole process as a team really strengthened our relationship."
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Weather for Leeds
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -5 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Light sleet
Temperature: 0 C to 1 C
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